The Assembly's Nicholas Hamilton was a panelist at "Influx and Exodus: Two Conversations on Urban Density," co-hosted by The Van Alen Institute and the World Policy Institute. In back-to-back panel discussions, the central concern was how city infrastructure and policy can be designed to keep pace with the demographic shifts that accompany rapid economic growth and decline.

On December 9th, from 7:30pm - 9:30pm, at the Van Alen Institute, a conversation will be held on sudden shifts in urban population.

Rust Belt cities struggle to repurpose vacant land and adapt the delivery of fundamental services, and cities like Mumbai and Lagos sprawl ever outward with dense informal communities: In both cases, adapting to sudden population change presents a massive challenge. How can city infrastructure and policy keep pace with the dramatic shifts brought on by rapid growth and decline?

It is with considerable sadness that The American Assembly announces the passing of William H. Sullivan (Oct. 12, 1922—Oct 11, 2013), who served as our President from 1979 to 1986. After a distinguished career as a diplomat and a scholar, Bill brought great prestige to our institution, stabilizing The Assembly’s finances and developing innovative projects. He was held in high esteem by all who had the privilege to work with him, especially The Assembly’s trustees and staff, who extend their condolences to his family.

The American Assembly's Nick Hamilton was honored to join 42 urban policy experts from thirty cities at the June 10-12 Next City's Vanguard 2013. The "Vanguards" compared experiments in building upon a city's unique set of assets and exchanged new civic engagement strategies. Young leaders from around the nation drew from the many examples of innovation in the legacy city of Cleveland, Ohio, including urban agriculture (pictured, on the right).

During the week of February 1st, American Assembly Vice President Joe Karaganis appeared on NPR's "On Media" program to talk about the newly released volume "Copy Culture in the U.S. and Germany," a comparative study of habits around media consumption and acquisition. Listen to that interview here.